


Precarious & Patient

by svecounia



Category: Corteo - Cirque du Soleil
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-10
Updated: 2020-03-10
Packaged: 2021-03-01 03:47:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 433
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23088799
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/svecounia/pseuds/svecounia
Summary: An angel looks forward to meeting one of her favorite people to watch over. Based on Corteo's ladder act.
Comments: 1
Kudos: 2





	Precarious & Patient

That Dante should be named after one in constant search of paradise was no surprise. Renata liked to imagine what his mother must have been thinking. Had she known he'd take such a shine to flirting with death? Had he launched himself out of his mother's belly ready for whatever fun and dangers awaited him? Renata hadn't been around to see. But she could ask Dante herself when Paradise swept him up, and it would be sooner rather than later if he kept at it with that ladder of his. Renata smothered a smile at the thought.

The live ones would think it dour, but nearly all angels felt the way she did. Death was nothing to worry about. It was an excellent equalizer and there were a great many things to do once you were dead. Fly, watch, lounge - whatever you liked. You couldn't meddle with the live ones, but that was less a rule and more a practical impossibility. Renata could weave a breeze or spin a cloud, but that was about it. Death had afforded her ample time to attend the theatre and that was the best comparison she could think of: her attention and applause could encourage, but never influence. 

But theatre grew boring before long, and the theatre in this town was so mismanaged that even Renata had grown weary of hovering in the rafters to witness their disorganized antics. That's when Dante had caught her eye, balanced like a stork on his ladder, trembling between his world and hers. She'd been delighted to discover it was no accident but rather some kind of game, and whenever he practiced Renata would pillow her head on her hands and watch, waiting for him to lose, waiting to meet him properly. Whenever she spotted him in the square, she waved a few clouds away so the sun could warm him up.

He'd gathered a tiny crowd today. Renata settled down on the cathedral facade next to her favorite stone statue, the one she thought looked quite a bit like her. What joy he brought to the children, and what children he made of the adults: all who watched him came away lighter for it, as though a breeze might catch them and lift them into the air beside Renata. 

Dante teetered at the top of his ladder, eyes fixed on the ground below, alight with the crowd's attention. Unable to resist, Renata floated down and brushed her hand against his face. He looked through her, following the whisper of her touch, and beamed.

He'd be along in his own time.


End file.
